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The questions Muslims ask about the Trinity are difficult to answer satisfactorily. Trinity is a theological term not found in the Bible, like the words “eternity” or “infinity”. It is based on revealed truth and transcends the power of human reason. We must therefore be careful not to give the impression that we can explain the inexplicable.

Take a drop of water to a chemist for analysis. He will tell you that it is H2O. Take the same drop to a physical scientist and he will say it is a liquid.Take a little ice and do the same. The chemist will maintain that it is H2O; the physicist will say it is a solid.

Now take a test tube full of steam- the chemist will give you the same analysis, but the physicist’s reply will be different – he will say that it is a gas!The similarity between this and the Trinity is striking. As water, ice or steams are consistently H2O in spite of all their physical differences- so God, in his diverse “appearances” is always God! Let us use such an illustration with the utmost reverence, however.

One could liken water, the originator and maintainer of Life, to the Creator-Father; the ice, which can be handled, to the son of God who became the saviour, and the steam, often unseen and unmanageable, representing power, to the Holy Spirit who reveals God to all who seek Him and gives the power to the believer to live righteously. Yet all three share essential nature-the nature of God himself.

There are other analogies. Man consists of body, soul and spirit-and yet is only one person. Sunshine contains light, heat and is a chemical action.Fire, light and heat are three, yet one!In the same way, mind, thought and speech belong together and yet are distinct from one another.